Which version of linux for a noob?

[StarsMars]

I'm refreshing my old 2011 laptop.

I plan to use for light web browsing/ familiarizing myself with linux.

 

Is there a version that is more common or easy for someone unfamiliar?

Is there a version better for modest hardware?

[TehDwonz]

4 minutes ago, StarsMars said:

I'm refreshing my old 2011 laptop.

I plan to use for light web browsing/ familiarizing myself with linux.

 

Is there a version that is more common or easy for someone unfamiliar?

Is there a version better for modest hardware?

ZorinOS is pretty good. 

[martward]

I would suggest going Ubuntu if you're not familiar with linux. It's not necessarily the easiest as far as I know, but there is so much support online. Everybody and their grandma's are using Ubuntu and the internet forums are filled with questions and answers about the platform.

There is a lightweight version called Lubuntu, but I have no idea whether it is any good.

[Dutch_Master]

I'd suggest Mint, the Mate edition. Mate was made to look like Win-XP. It's based on the same underlaying platform as Ubuntu, so a lot of that docs also apply to Mate.

[DeuteriumTSM]

28 minutes ago, Dutch_Master said:

I'd suggest Mint, the Mate edition. Mate was made to look like Win-XP. It's based on the same underlaying platform as Ubuntu, so a lot of that docs also apply to Mate.

My old (formerly Win7) laptop runs Mint Cinnamon, so seconded on this reccomendation

[ProjectBox153]

I find that Mint works very well on lots of hardware, and it's easy to find your way around if you are at all used to Windows. I personally use the MATE edition, but you can choose from Cinnamon or Xfce as well. 

[StarsMars]

Thank you for all the recommendations. I think I'll go with Ubuntu. Maybe mint if I get too lost.

The ssd and power jack should be here in a week or so. I'll post to let you know how intuitive I find the os. Thanks again

[TorC]

"Modest hardware" would best be defined up front to receive a fair estimation.  

Make and model, amt RAM, CPU specs?

PCLOS is user-friendly with active community.  Here I recommend lxqt and openbox versions for older 64bit PC.

[StarsMars]

I was having some weird issues with Ubuntu. Wouldn't play most videos in firefox. Also after a restart, the wifi card was not detecting.

 

On 1/12/2021 at 7:17 PM, TorC said:

"Modest hardware" would best be defined up front to receive a fair estimation.  

Make and model, amt RAM, CPU specs?

PCLOS is user-friendly with active community.  Here I recommend lxqt and openbox versions for older 64bit PC.

 

AMD A8 3150mx

8gb ram

240gb ssd

 

 

[LauRoman]

Ubuntu is probably best for beginners, because if you have a problem, somebody had it before and has probably thought of a solution.

It has both a Mate and a Cinnamon ISO that are a good place to start for people coming from windows

[TorC]

The built-in Radeon graphics in the A8 is most likely causing the concerns mentioned.  PCLOS is one of the few that will recognize and install the proprietary drivers.  Just make sure, if yours does not require the latest drivers that you are aware of which driver version works with your setup. 

 

Insert "nomodeset" in the kernel line prior to boot, if the driver set is NOT the latest Radeon driver.  This will probably not be necessary, but who knows with a 2011 cpu with built-in graphics? 

 

I'm a nVidia person, not by choice but by necessity.  I, myself, do not have much experience with early AMDs.  You may have to become knowledgable about your hardware, yourself, by whatever means you find.

 

Reference on "nomodeset" boot parameter for ubuntu

 

Again, I recommend the 2.3GB

community-pclinuxos64-openbox-2020.09.iso 

If problems arise, the community is there to help, as well as here.